Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying has become a continuous and emerging problem faced in today’s society Cyberbullying can cause major psychological effects on the victims, which can cause self-esteem issues, changes in behavior, and aggression. Too often we hear in the media that children are being harassed, degraded, and or committing suicide because of being humiliated by means of cell phones, computers, and social websites. Cyberbullying has become an important issue for Parents, School teachers, Administrators, Law enforcement, and Society as a whole. Some believe that Cyberbullying is not a serious matter, that it is a part of “The First Amendment”, the right to free speech (Arizona Daily Wildcat). While on the other hand the numbers of suicides that are linked to cyberbullying have labeled the matter very serious. Is cyberbullying killing our children?

The Freedom of speech is of course one of the rights that we possess. But in my opinion there should be a limit to what one can say or do. We have no right to bully, torment, or harm with the words that we speak and write. We have no right to torment one another by means of digital devices. So yes, I agree that we have the right to free speech, but I disagree with having the right to post demeaning and opinionated words about people we find different or barely know.

When dealing with children the term used is cyberbullying, but when it involves an adult its cyberstalking or cyberharrasment. The terms mean the same it just depends on the age of the victim. Cyberbullying may be delivered by means of phone calls, text messages, e-mails, and instant messaging. The National Crime Prevention Council defines cyber-bullying as “the process of using the Internet, cell phones or other devices to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person.” This type of bullying has occurred in many different forms for as long as the Internet has existed, but became popular with the introduction of Social Networking...